Lubbock Citizens Speak Out On Fracking at Council Meeting

At their meeting Thursday evening, the Lubbock City Council heard from people both for and against a contract approved by a previous Council earlier this year.

People spoke out for or against the practice of “fracking,” also known as hydraulic fracturing, is fracturing a rock layer using pressurized fluid, and can be used to release natural gas or oil for extraction.

Some that were in opposition to the practice identified themselves with Occupy Lubbock.

“We believe the citizens of Lubbock were not allowed a say-so in leasing out land,” said Armando Gonzales. “I think that these communities are going to be affected, and interestingly enough, they are in east Lubbock and north Lubbock, and I think that is some sort of environmental discrimination.”

Concerns over the amounts of water used for the fracking operations were also raised.

The Council approved a contract with Four Sevens Exploration Drilling in March of this year. Since then, a new mayor and two new councilmembers have been elected.

“At this time, if we were to violate the terms of this contract, we would be opening ourselves to litigation,” said Mayor Glen Robertson.

Lance Cansino, who majored in Chemistry at Texas Tech, spoke in support of the fracking operations, saying “I have looked at both sides, the economic side as well as the scientific side of this issue. I applaud the Council, the former Council and this Council for of course, continuing the contracting for this, because tax relief is extremely important for the citizens of Lubbock.”

Robertson, District 2 Councilman Floyd Price, and District 3 Councilman Todd Klein supported the contract and the current fracking methods.